Christian Baptism

Its Real Meaning

by Roderick C. Meredith

What do you see when you look at yourself?

How badly do you personally need Gods forgiveness?
Do you really stand in need of a Savior?
Perhaps you have already been
baptized as a child, or maybe as an infant.
You might not even remember the event.
Is your baptism really valid and acceptable in
Gods sight? This is a truly vital question, because
your very salvation depends on the answer!

CB Edition 2.0a July 2015

2015 LIVING CHURCH OF GODTM
All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

This booklet is not to be sold!

It has been provided as a free public educational service

by the Living Church of God
Scriptures in this booklet are quoted from the New King James Version
(Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers) unless otherwise noted.
Cover: 2015 Tomorrows World Image

Christian Baptism
Its Real Meaning

he shoulders of the big man sitting across the table began to shake
and heave. Ive broken every single one of Gods commandments,
he cried. I need to be baptized! This man, a World War II veteran
and former Marine, was very deeply conscious that he was a sinner in need
of salvation. As a young twenty-two year old college student conducting
a baptizing tour, I was deeply struck by this mans sincerely repentant
attitude. He was coming to see himself, and he genuinely hated what he
saw! He recognized his desperate need for a Savior.
What about you? What do you see when you look at yourself? How
badly do you personally need Gods forgiveness? Are you one who has
led a pretty good life? If so, is baptism even really necessary for you?
Do you, personally, really stand in need of a Savior?
Perhaps you have already been baptized. Maybe it occurred when
you were a child, and you do not even remember the event, or perhaps
you were baptized as an adolescent or adult, when you made a decision
for Christ. Is your baptism really valid and acceptable in Gods sight?
This is a truly vital question because your very salvation depends upon
the answer.

Millions Have Been DECEIVED

It is important to realize that the vast majority of human beings
on this eartheven religious peoplehave been deceived. The Apostle
John was inspired to describe Satan as that serpent of old, called the
Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world (Revelation 12:9). It
is hard for most people to fully grasp the fact that they, personally,
may have been deceived into following wrong religious doctrines and
practices.
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Christian Baptism: Its Real Meaning

But we all need to carefully and open-mindedly compare the clear

examples and teachings of Jesus Christ with what today is purported
to be Christianity. You will quickly see a vast difference, as Dr. Rufus
Jones candidly explained: If by any chance Christ Himself had been
taken by His later followers as the model and pattern of the new way,
and a serious attempt had been made to set up His life and teaching as
the standard and norm for the Church, Christianity would have been
something vastly different from what it became. The heresy would have
been as it is not now, a deviation from His way, His teaching, His spirit,
His kingdom (The Churchs Debt to Heretics, p. 15).
If Jesus and the early Apostles do not represent the standard for
true Christianity, then what is that standard? Is it the confused and
often contradictory ramblings of the so-called church fathers of the
Roman Catholic Church during the Dark Ages? Remember that Jesus
Himself warned specifically about false religious leaders. He said: Let
them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads
the blind, both will fall into a ditch (Matthew 15:14).
Frankly, I grew up absolutely blind to most of the basic truths of the
Bible. I belonged to a mainstream Protestant church. I was president of my
Sunday school class at one point. Both my parents graduated from a college
sponsored by that church which our family attended regularly. Yet I had
no idea of the ultimate purpose of human existence, was totally ignorant of
the great end-time prophecies of the Bible and was never taught about the
power of the Holy Spirit to change my life and enable the living Jesus Christ
to live His life within me (see Galatians 2:20)! Incredibly, however, I was
regarded by dozens of my friends as more knowledgeable than they were
about the Bible and things of religion. These other church-going youth
often asked me questions and were wondering about, and in confusion
about, the very purpose of human existence.
I was baptized as a helpless little infantunable even to discern my
left hand from my right hand, let alone able to grasp the enormity of sin
and deeply repent of my sins and accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. Was
I, then, a true Christian?
Of course not!

My Personal Quest for Truth

In that well-known Protestant church I was just like the millions
of other deceived people who just grow up in the church of their
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choicenever even considering whether it is truly Gods Church

and whether it is fully teaching His Truth instead of the ideas and the
imaginations of deceived men. Finally, in my late teens, God began
to open my mind to what true religion was all about. Rather than just
reading the Gospels or Psalms for inspiration, I actually began to
study the Bible just as one would study a history book or a book about
physics or chemistry. I asked God for understanding, and I continued
for months to read and mark, reread and meditate on the entire New
Testamentthen the Old Testamentand try to understand what Jesus
Christ actually taught!
In my personal study, I began to realize that true Christianity is
not just believing in the person of Jesus Christ, but believing and acting
on His Message. I found that a true Christian must totally surrender
and let Christ live within him through the Holy Spirit. As the Apostle
Paul wrote: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons
of God (Romans 8:14). Also, Paul stated: I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me,
and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20, KJV).
I began to understand Jesus repeated warnings about accepting Him
and using His name in vain: But why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and
not do the things which I say? (Luke 6:46). And again: Not everyone
who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he
who does the will of My Father in heaven (Matthew 7:21).
But where do you stand?
Has God opened your mind to the fact that He really is the
Governor of the universe; that He is a real God who created and now
rules over all things? Do you realize that His Son Jesus Christ not only
came into this world to die for our sins, but is now alive at the right
hand of the Father in heaven, and that Christ is now our living High
Priest? Do you understand that He will live His life in us through the
promised Holy Spirit if we truly repent and are baptized, and that
Christ will live within us the same obedient life He lived while in the
human flesh? For your Bible says: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
All of us need helpa lot of help. We simply cannot overcome
our own human vanities and passions, overcome the world and also
overcome Satan the Devil through our own strength. The God who
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Christian Baptism: Its Real Meaning

made us has promised that He will give us the spiritual help and the
spiritual strength that we need. Jesus said: But the Helper, the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all
things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you
(John 14:26). And again: However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has
come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own
authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you
things to come (John 16:13).

BELIEVE What Jesus Actually Taught

Jesus Christ came preaching a message about the coming Kingdom
of God. The Gospel of Mark records: Now after John was put in prison,
Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:1415).
To be a true disciple of Jesus Christ and receive His Spirit, you must
repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christs Gospel. The true Gospel
message about Gods Kingdom involves ones willingness to obey the
laws of that Kingdomthe Ten Commandments. When a young man
asked Jesus how to gain eternal life, Jesus replied: Why do you call Me
good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter
into life, keep the commandments. He said to Him, Which ones? Jesus
said, You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall
not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and
your mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew
19:1719). Here Jesus is clearly naming the Ten Commandments as the
Way of life for those who desire to be in His Kingdom.
Later, as our High Priest and living Head of the Church, Jesus
inspired the Apostle James to explain that true Christians must keep all
of the points of Gods law. Indeed, we must live as those who will be
judged by the Ten Commandments, for they truly are the standard of
true Christian conduct!
The beloved Apostle John warned those who would try to
water down the clear biblical teaching of obedience to the Ten
Commandments, He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His
commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him (1 John 2:4).
Many professing Christians and even many famous preachers may
know about God, but they do not actually know Godare not truly
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acquainted with Himunless and until they fully surrender to let the
true Jesus Christ live His obedient life within them through the Holy
Spirit! Then they will have experienced what it is like to express the very
character of God. Then they will truly know God.
Does that mean that true Christians keep the Ten Commandments
perfectly at all times? Of course not! For the Apostle John also stated
clearly writing about Christians: If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness (1 John 1:89).
This cleansing from sin is a continuous action, for the genuine
Christian is to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).
The newly converted babe in Christ will constantly make
mistakes. All of us who are Christians will make mistakes. Yet we will
get up and try again. We will occasionally slip off the path. But we will
repent each time with the help of the Holy Spirit and get back on the
path of obedience to the Ten Commandments. For the great spiritual
law of Godthe Ten Commandmentsis truly the Way of life. The
man after Gods own heart, King David of Israel, stated: Oh, how
I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your
commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever
with me (Psalm 119:9798).

What Should You Do?

If you have been drawn to God by His Spirit and want to become a
true Christian, what should you do? The inspired answer was given by
the Apostle Peter on the first New Testament day of Pentecost. After
coming to realize the enormity of their sins, the repentant Jews asked
Peter and the rest of the Apostles: Men and brethren, what shall we
do? Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to
your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God
will call (Acts 2:3739).
Think carefully about this fundamental instruction from Gods
word. We are to be baptized for the remission of sins. Obviously, then,
we are to repent of sin.
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Christian Baptism: Its Real Meaning

But what is sin?

The clearest definition of sin given in the Bible is found in 1 John
3:4: Sin is the transgression of the law (KJV). So we are to repent of
breaking Gods spiritual law, the Ten Commandments! And we need
to realize that Jesus Christ came to magnify the law and make it
honorable (Isaiah 42:21). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explained
that we are not only not to kill, we are not even to harbor bitterness
and hatred in our heartsfor that is the spirit or attitude of murder
(Matthew 5:2122). Christians are not only never to commit adultery,
they are not even to lust after another person (vv. 2728).
Far from watering down Gods law, Jesus teaching made the Ten
Commandments even more binding!
It is only through Jesus Christ living His life within us that we can
increasingly reflect the spirit of the Ten Commandments in our daily
lives. As stated earlier, we must indeed grow in grace and knowledge
continually.
Through the Holy Spirit, the spiritual love of God is given to us to
enable us to keep Gods law. Now hope does not disappoint, because the
love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was
given to us (Romans 5:5). And what is the love of God which is given
to the true Christian? How does it function? The Apostle John explains:
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His
commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3).
So the true love of God flows down the channel or riverbed of the
Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments tell us how to love God
and how to love our fellow man. And, contrary to the clever arguments
of many religious leaders, they are not burdensome. Rather, if obeyed,
they become the law of liberty as we saw above in James epistle.
They would free mankind from war, crime, adultery, broken homes,
rebellious children and a host of other problems if they were practiced
by all mankind!
In the soon-coming Kingdom of God, mankind will obey the
Ten Commandments as a way of life. That is precisely why there will
be peace, prosperity and joy in the coming millennial reign of Jesus
Christ on this earth! Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that
the mountain of the Lords house shall be established on the top of the
mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow
to it. Many nations shall come and say, Come, and let us go up to the
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mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach
us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion the law
shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge
between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off; they shall
beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war
any more (Micah 4:13).

Be Sure You Count the Cost

Getting back to Peters sermon on the first New Testament
Pentecost, remember that he exhorted these men to repent. To repent
of sin means more than being sorry. The Bible makes it clear that
genuine repentance involves being fully convicted of the fact that you
are truly a sinner and that you have broken and smashed Gods law over
and overin the spirit if not in the letter. It means being convicted not
only that you have done wrong, but that you are wrong! As the Apostle
Paul explains: For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good
dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good
I do not find (Romans 7:18). And he stated again later: O wretched
man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank
God; through Jesus Christ our Lord! (vv. 2425).
When you have been brought to this kind of real repentance, it is
time to be baptized! You will need to honestly count the cost as Jesus
instructed: If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and
mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life
also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and
come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to
build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has
enough to finish it (Luke 14:2628).
Ask yourself: With the help of God, will you really put God ahead
of family, friends, job, money and social position, or will you be like
the Pharisees of Jesus day who loved the praise of men more than the
praise of God (John 12:43)?
Has God become real to you? Will you truly put Him ahead of
everything else? Or do you have some secret idolsomething that, in
fact, you put ahead of God and of your relationship with Jesus Christ?
Remember that repentance means change. Are you, personally,
ready to accept in faith the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for your sins and
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Christian Baptism: Its Real Meaning

then fully surrender to let Him come in and take charge and change
your entire life?
Have you come to a heartfelt appreciation for the fact that Jesus
Christthe Son of Godemptied Himself of His glory and power
and came in human flesh to die for your sins (see Philippians 2:58)
and that He who had been with the Father from eternity was willing to
divest Himself of all that magnificence to serve you and meto make
it possible for us to share eternity with Him and with the Father in the
Kingdom as full sons of God (see John 1:112)?
As you proceed toward baptism, will youwith Gods help
dedicate yourself to express total love and loyalty to Jesus Christ as your
Savior, your Lord and Master, your High Priest and your coming King?
Will you?
These are vital questions that need to be askedand need to be
sincerely answered in the affirmative. For when you are baptized, you
are making a sacred covenant with your Creator to love, to obey and to
serve Him and His Son Jesus Christ now and forever!
God does not owe you anything. But, on the contrary, you and I
owe Him and His glorified Son everything. For God created all things
through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:9; John 1:13). He created you and
me. He created and sustains the earth we live in, the air we breathe, the
water we drink, the food we eat. God the Father, through Jesus Christ,
created our mindsthe very instrument we humans sometimes use to
reason around the fact that something greater had to be there to create
our minds! Then we reason ourselves into excusing ourselves from
stealing, lying, committing adultery and all manner of things we should
know are wrong. As the Apostle Paul explained in Romans 8:78: The
carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God,
nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
So we need forgiveness. We desperately need a Savior. And we
need the constant help of our Savior and High Priest who will not save
us in our sins but from our sinsand give us the spiritual strength to
overcome and grow in the very character of God. And all of this can
be accomplished only through our coming to a place where we are
willing to completely repent of our natural hostility toward God and to
heartfeltly accept the shed blood of Jesus Christthe very life of the Son
of Godas payment for our sins.
Have you come to such a time and place in your life?
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The Keys to Changing Your Life

The Bible records stories of dramatic change in the lives of many
individuals. How were they able to make such total about faces in
their lives? Is it possible for you to make changes of equal magnitude
in your own life? There are two vital keys. Most people overlook them
entirely. Even those who acknowledge them generally misunderstand
what they really involve.
In Acts 2 we read of the events surrounding the beginnings of the
New Testament Church. Simon Peter preached a powerful sermon
to multiple thousands assembled to observe the Feast of Pentecost.
A number of those who heard him that day had stood in the mob
assembled outside Pilates Judgment Hall a mere seven-and-a-half
weeks earlier. At that earlier time, they had been shouting Crucify
Him! when Pilate was offering to free Jesus of Nazareth. Now,
believing the truth of Peters message, they were convicted of the
magnitude of what they had done. It was with a deep sense of shame
and personal guilt, that they now humbly asked him: What shall we
do? (Acts 2:3639) He responded by telling them to repent. Faith and
repentance are the vital keys without which real change is impossible.
Faith sets the stage for repentance. The kind of faith we are talking
about is living and real. It produces a state of mind that wants to make an
about face and turn to God. This faith is confidence in a real God and in the
promises He makes. It results in action! Faith without works is dead, the
Apostle James wrote in James 2:17. To really believe and trust, God makes it
possible for us to absolutely, unconditionally surrender to Him.
Hebrews 11 is often called the faith chapter of the Bible. In
Hebrews 11:13 we learn that the men and women of faith did certain
things. Understanding what they did helps us to understand lifechanging faith. We are told that they saw the promises afar off, were
persuaded of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were
strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
First, we must see and understand the promises that God makes,
be convinced of both their value and their reality, and then we must
embrace them. To embrace is to hold dear and precious. If we do not
value and cherish what God offers, we simply will not hold on and
endure through the ups and downs of life. Because the men and women
of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11 held dear what God promised, they
demonstrated by word and action that they were not part of this world.
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Christian Baptism: Its Real Meaning

We cannot fit in with this world and fit in with God at the same
time (James 4:4). In order to fit in with and cultivate the acceptance and
approval of this world, a person must be in harmony with the values of
this age. John summed up the values of this world as appealing to the
lust of flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16).
This age and its corrupt, decadent value system is going to pass away,
but there is a new world coming based upon eternal values. That new
world, tomorrows world, will be permanent.
If we really believe that, then we will want to turn to God with all
of our hearts and learn how to dwell in harmony with Him forever.
Living faith produces action, and genuine repentance is one of the first
actions it produces. That is what Peters audience displayed when they
asked him: What shall we do? They offered no excuses. They did not
attempt to minimize their actions. They did not begin blaming others.
Rather, they were humble, teachable, and surrendered in their heart
and mind. Peter had preached the Gospel and they believed his message.
They evidenced faith by their heartfelt desire to act upon that faith. So
they asked the question that day that all who desire genuine change in
their lives must ask, What shall we do?

Does Obedience Earn Salvation?

Gods law tells us how to be like God (1 Peter 1:1516). However,
all of us have fallen far short of being like God. What can we do? No
amount of future good deeds can ever make up for what we have done
in the past. This ought to be obvious even from looking at mans laws.
If you were arrested for murder, would the promise to refrain from ever
doing it again earn your acquittal? Of course not! If we keep the law in
the future, we are merely doing what is expected. No amount of future
law keeping can ever atone for past law breaking.
All of us have sinned (Romans 3:23) and the wages of sin is death
(Romans 6:23). God made possible our release from the death penalty,
the curse of the law, by giving Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, to die
in our stead. He took our place. We are, therefore, reconciled to God by
the death of His Son (Romans 5:10).
God took the initiative to bring us into harmony with Himself,
which is what reconcile means. He has demonstrated His love by giving
the ultimate sacrifice, the life of His Son, to pay the penalty that you
and I have incurred by our thoughts, attitudes, and actions (John 3:16).
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However, we must respond to Gods grace through faith and repentance.

Gods intent is to save us from our sins, not in our sins. Shall we
continue in sin that grace may abound?, Paul asks. Certainly not! How
shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? (Romans 6:12). If we are
to accept Gods freely offered gift of eternal life, which we could never
earn or deserve in a thousand lifetimes, then we must respond to Him by
turning from our ways to His ways (Acts 2:38).

What Is Repentance?
An attitude of unconditional surrender of our life and of our
will is the attitude of repentance. If we come to really see the reality of
the glorious future that God offers and to genuinely believe His word,
then we will want to seek God and His ways with all of our heart. That
is what led to changes in the lives of the men and women of faith of
whom we read in Hebrews 11. Living faith always results in action!
Repentance is a response to living faith. While it starts on the inside, it
will also be reflected in outward changes. If we really have come to hate
the old ways, we will want to turn from them.
Have you been led by God to see that your very nature is wrong?
Have you come to sincerely want to get rid of your own rotten, selfish,
carnal human nature? Again, are you ready to repent of not only what
you have donebut of what you are?
King David knew that this was what God required. He said: The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart; these
O God, You will not despise (Psalm 51:17). Before anyoneand this
does mean anyoneis really and truly converted, he has to be humbled,
beaten down and made to realize his own nothingness by God. He
has to go through a period of time when he is abhorring himself,
acknowledging his sins to God and repenting of themturning around
in his heart, mind and will and determining to go the other way.
When that time comes, a person will quit arguing and reasoning
with God or with His ministers doing His Work. He will not grudgingly
hang on to false concepts of God. He will quit trying to reason around
obedience to Gods commandments and literally living by every word
of the Bible. He will not get his feelings hurt at the correction and
exhortation of Gods chosen servants. Rather, he will give his life to
God as the Apostle Paul instructs us all to do: I beseech you therefore,
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Christian Baptism: Its Real Meaning

brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And
do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and
perfect will of God (Romans 12:12). As Paul instructed, even our
thoughts must be changed by the renewing of our minds!
You have probably heard certain mainstream evangelists use the
word repent from time to timethough not nearly as often as they
should. However, in nearly every instance, they utterly fail to give a true
biblical explanation of what repentance is all about. True repentance
involves a total surrender of ones mind, heart and will to the Creator
God, and requires the acceptance of the death of His Son in payment
for sin. For sin demands death. That is why Christ had to pay the
death penalty on our behalf. As the Apostle Paul wrote: The wages of
sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord
(Romans 6:23).
Jesus said: If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments
(Matthew 19:17). Do you keep the Ten Commandments? Or do you
make excuses? The Apostle John was inspired to write: And whatever
we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and
do those things that are pleasing in His sight (1 John 3:22). This New
Testament scripture clearly shows us that we receive answers to our
prayers when we keep Gods commandments!
If you would like more information about how to obey God, please
write for our vital and informative booklet titled Restoring Original
Christianity. It will be sent absolutely free upon request.
Please be honest with yourself. It is easy to rationalize or to reason
around this very clear scriptural teaching about obeying Gods law.
But if you want real answers to your prayers, you need to repent of
breaking the Ten Commandmentswhich is defined as sin (1 John 3:4,
KJV). And you need to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior (Acts
2:38). Thenthrough the help of the promised Holy Spirityou will
need to surrender more and more each day to let Jesus Christ live His
obedient life in you. Keep in mind what the Apostle Paul declared: I am
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in
me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son
of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20, KJV).
This is the attitude of mind and heart that you must have, that your old
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selfyour former anti-God thoughts and wayswill yield completely

to Christ living His own righteous life within you!

The Symbolism of Baptism

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, Paul writes
in 1 Corinthians 12:13. John the Baptist said that the Messiah would
offer two baptismsSpirit and fire (Matthew 3:1112). Those who will
not be plunged into the Family of God through the Spirit of God, will
ultimately be immersed in a lake of fire that will leave them neither
root nor branch (Malachi 4:1). Jesus Christ compared the Holy Spirit
to rivers of living water (John 4:14; 7:3839).
Paul explains in Colossians 2:12 that baptism symbolizes a burial.
The old man is symbolically put to death. We emerge a new creature.
Arising from the watery grave of baptism pictures our faith in the
resurrection, which is our ultimate hope to become a new creature.
In Romans 6:45 we read: Therefore we were buried with Him
through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of
life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death,
certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection. Baptism
is not an empty ritual or a magical rite. It is, however, a very important
symbol and is not something into which we should enter lightly.
Predicated upon faith and repentance, baptism is an outward sign
of our commitment. It represents a new beginning. The old person
with all of his sinful past is symbolically buried and a new creature
comes forth. The waters of baptism symbolize the fact that we are
washed clean inwardly through the Holy Spirit. Christs sacrifice has
paid for our sins and we come forth from baptism clean in Gods sight.
This represents not the end, however, but the beginning of the real
conversion process!
The Role of Gods Holy Spirit
Following baptism, we find that it was the practice of Christs first
century ministry to practice the laying on of hands (Acts 8:18; Hebrews
6:2). This laying on of hands symbolized a special setting apart by God.
In the aftermath of baptism, it set apart the newly baptized person to
receive Gods Holy Spirit. In Acts 19:16 we read that Paul encountered
in Ephesus some people who believed his preaching, and previously had
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Christian Baptism: Its Real Meaning

been baptized. However, they had not fully understood the Gospel when
they were baptized and had never received the Holy Spirit, nor indeed
even knew of it. After counseling with them, Paul re-baptized them in
Jesus name and laid hands on them for the receiving of Gods Holy
Spirit. God showed through an unusual miracle, such as had occurred
on the first Pentecost of the New Testament era, that they did indeed
receive the Spirit this time. Why was all of this necessary?
Peter told his listeners on the day of Pentecost that following
repentance and baptism they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
(Acts 2:38). What is receiving the Holy Spirit intended to accomplish in
our lives?
Peter explains that it is through the Holy Spirit, Gods divine power,
that we become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). It is
through the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ dwells in us and empowers us
to live the same kind of life that He lived when He walked the earth as a
human being (Galatians 2:20; Philippians 2:5).
Since Christ dwells in us through the Holy Spirit, our bodies are
accounted as the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16) and we are told
to glorify God in all aspects of life (1 Corinthians 6:20). Having Gods
Spirit in us is what makes us a holy people, or what the Bible terms
saints. We cannot make ourselves (or anything else for that matter!)
holy. God is holy and only He can impart holiness. If we truly repent
and turn to God in faith, He promises not only to forgive us our past,
but also to impart His Holy Spirit to us. Gods Spirit, given us as a gift,
is intended to transform our lives by renewing our minds (Titus 3:5;
Romans 12:2). We become a new creation because God is changing us
by writing His laws in our hearts and minds (Hebrews 8:10).
Though it is the power of God that makes this transformation
possible, nevertheless we have our part to play. We have to exercise
Gods Spirit, we have to follow the lead of Gods Spiritin short, we
must walk with God. Gods Spirit will lead and empower, but it will not
possess or control us. We must seek and desire to follow Gods lead in
our lives. Our efforts apart from Gods empowering Spirit are futile, yet
Gods power without our efforts simply represents potential energy. It is
like a light switch in the off position; the potential to light up the room
is present, but the circuit is open and nothing is flowing through. It is
the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God that will ultimately make
possible the completion of our salvation.
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Upon faith and repentance, we are justified, made innocent and

brought into right standing before God, through the shed blood of
Jesus Christ (Romans 5:9). Next, since we have now turned to God, He
sanctifies usmakes us holyby placing His Holy Spirit within us. The
Spirit is there to give us deeper understanding of spiritual things and
to empower us to live Godly lives. As Christians, we must continue to
grow in grace and in knowledge (2 Peter 3:18). If we follow the urging
of Gods Spirit, then the righteousness of God as defined in His law will
be fulfilled in our lives (Romans 8:4).
While we are justified by Christs death, we are finally saved through
His life (Romans 5:910). Christ is alive right now at the right hand
of the Father on high! He actively intercedes for us as our living High
Priest when we slip up and sin (Hebrews 4:1416) and He lives His life
of overcoming sin in the flesh in us through the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit (Galatians 2:20). The very fact of His triumph over death through
the resurrection is the proof that we will ultimately be given immortal
life at His return (1 Corinthians 15:2023).

God Inducts You into His Church

Through baptism and the receipt of Gods Holy Spirit, you are
automatically baptized into the true Church of God. For by one Spirit
we were all baptized into one bodywhether Jews or Greeks, whether
slaves or freeand have all been made to drink into one Spirit (1
Corinthians 12:13), for Gods Church is composed of those people who
are filled with and led by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14).
You cannot just join the true Church of God! God must draw
you or call you and then place you in His Church by giving you His
Holy Spirit. Remember how Jesus said, No one can come to Me unless
the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last
day (John 6:44).
Yet God does have an organized Churchand always has! Jesus
Christ stated: I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not
prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). That Hades or the grave, would
not prevail over Gods true Church may be taken in two ways: First,
God will never permit His Church to be completely destroyed or cease
to exist. Second, the basic hope of all true Christians is the resurrection
from the dead. So although individual Christians may die, they will
live again at the seventh trumpet when Christ returns to this earth as
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Christian Baptism: Its Real Meaning

King of kings! Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but
we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:5152).
Paul instructs us that those in the Church are the spiritual body of
Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). As the hands and feet and eyes and
ears and minds of our physical bodies must work together for the body
to function properly, so the spiritual bodythe Church of Godmust
be organized and its members cooperating to carry on the assigned
functions of the Church. Jesus Christ is the living, active Head of the
true Church (Ephesians 1:2223). He sets the goals and missions for His
Church. After His resurrection and just before His ascension to heaven,
Jesus commanded: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded
you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matthew
28:1820).
So the primary function of the true Church is to go to all nations
and preach the same powerful message Jesus preached about the
coming Kingdom of God! Then the Church is to teach the people all
things that Christ taught His disciplesthe entire Way of God based
upon heartfelt obedience to Gods great spiritual lawand upon total
surrender, to let Jesus Christ live His life within each of the people of
God.
We all need to be instructed, taught, encouraged and guided toward
the Kingdom of God. Therefore we are commanded: Let us consider
one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking
the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but
exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day
approaching (Hebrews 10:2425). Notice that we are not to forsake
the assembling of ourselves together! Rather, we are to meet regularly
on Gods Sabbaths and on His Holy Days just like Jesus and the early
Apostles did (Luke 4:16; Acts 17:2).
Though some people pride themselves upon being independent
Christians, that has never been Gods way. The entire story of the book
of Acts describes a unified Church meeting together and all working
together whenever possible! All of us need the fellowship, the love,
the examples and the encouragement of fellow Christians who are
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committed to live by every word of God. The true Churchcalled

twelve times the Church of God in the New Testamentprovides this
opportunity for proper spiritual fellowship, growth and service.
Refusing to meet with those who are growing and those who are
doing the Work of God is the complete antithesis of what Christ and
the Apostles taught and practiced. For all of us must learn to love one
another, to forgive one another andthrough Gods Holy Spirit within
usto grow in that love. For Gods word tells us: If someone says, I
love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love
his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not
seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves
God must love his brother also (1 John 4:2021).

A Covenant with Your Creator

Gods word makes it very clear that genuine Christian baptism is an
adult decision to be made after deep reflection and heartfelt repentance.
For, again, it truly pictures the death and burial of our old selfish selves.
And in this decision and in this action we are making a covenant with
our Creator to accept Jesus Christs shed blood as payment for our sins
and to truly acknowledge Him as our Lord, or Master, and our coming
King whom we will henceforth obey!
On Gods part, we are promised the precious gift of the Holy
Spirit (Acts 2:38). Receiving Gods Holy Spirit involves being
impregnated with His very nature and character. As the Apostle Paul
explains: The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the
Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:5). And, as we read in
Galatians 5:2223, the fruit or result of the Holy Spirit in our lives
is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control.
Gods Holy Spirit gives us the spiritual love and spiritual strength
to obey God, to control our lusts, and to walk in His commandments
as a way of life. For this is the love of God, that we keep His
commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome (1
John 5:3). So it is not usin our human strengthkeeping Gods
commandments; it is Christ living within us His life through the
indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24:13: But he who endures to the end
shall be saved. If we wish to inherit the Kingdom that God has prepared
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Christian Baptism: Its Real Meaning

for those that love Him, we must remain faithful till the end. We do this
by continuing to abide in Christ (John 15:34). How do you abide in
Christ? Notice what John explained in 1 John 2:36: Now by this we
know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says,
I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the
truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God
is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he
abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
To abide or endure means to remain faithfully anchored and
established in the Truth of God. Remember, the Bible shows that the
Truth is not merely a list of doctrines to be argued about, but rather, a
way of life that must be obeyed and lived (Galatians 3:1; 2 Peter 2:2, 21).
Most professing Christians think that salvation is merely a one time
affair. Many who claim to be Gods representatives have trivialized Gods
promises and His purpose. They have offered a cheap grace that costs the
believer nothing. They have promised liberty by teaching that Gods law
is a yoke of bondage and that real obedience to it is unnecessary. In reality
their easy grace doctrine that Christ somehow did it all for us only
leaves their adherents ensnared in the corruption of sin (2 Peter 2:19).
In contrast, Jesus said that those who would come after Him must
stand ready to give up everything, even their very lives (Matthew 16:24
25). Christ requires nothing less than total, unconditional commitment
and devotion from those who would accept Him as their Lord and
Savior. Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the
way that leads to destruction, Christ said. Not everyone who says
to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who
does the will of My Father in heaven (Matthew 7:13, 21). This is the
covenant that we are making with our Creator at baptism.
The Bible shows a great and awesome destiny for those who inherit
Gods salvation. It also reveals the process by which God is reproducing
Himself in us. Conversion is the key to that process. True conversion
involves the total surrender of our life and of our will to Almighty God.
For those who turn to Him in this way, God makes possible our
forgiveness, our transformation from the inside out, and our ultimate entry
into His glorious Kingdom as one of His very sons. Will we encounter
difficulties and even suffer persecution sometimes because we are trying to
live by Gods instructions rather than by the traditions and customs of the
world around us? You bet we will! But we must never forget the Apostle
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Pauls admonition that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).
Our personal covenant with our Creator at baptism involves a
commitment to a lifetime of change. There will be changes in how we
feel, in what we do, and, most of all, in what we are on the inside. True
conversion leads to our being conformed to the image of His Son, that
He [Christ] might be the firstborn of many brethren (Romans 8:29).

ACT on the Truth

God tells us that we are not merely to be interested in His Truth,
but we must act upon it! Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow
of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is
able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a
doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror (James
1:2223). No doubt thousands of you who read this are beginning
to realize that somehow God has brought you into contact with His
Church on this earth today. You have been learning, through the Work
of the Living Church of God, through the Tomorrows World television
program and the Tomorrows World magazine, the very purpose of
human existence and the Way of life God commands. Now it may be
time to act on this precious Truth. Do not treat it cheaply! Do not delay
and procrastinate once you understand what Gods purpose is in your
life. Do not wait until you think you have already overcome or until you
have perfect understanding or perfect repentance, for you cannot
even start toward perfection until after you have been baptized and
received Gods promised Holy Spirit to guide and strengthen you!
So once you are sincerely repentant and have counted the cost
and realize your need to be baptized, let us hear from you. The Living
Church of God has ministers or trained representatives in most parts of
the world. If you request this, they will call and set up an appointment
with you for baptismal counseling. They will not show up unexpectedly.
They will contact you ahead of time and get together at a time and place
of your convenience.
You will not be pressured to join anything! In fact, our ministers
may simply talk with you, answer your questions and give you some
material to read and study before you are actually baptized. We want
to be sureas much as you dothat you are truly ready to be baptized.
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Christian Baptism: Its Real Meaning

But this initial visit will give you the opportunityprobably for the first
time in your lifeto counsel with a true minister of God who genuinely
understands and teaches the full Truth of God.
So call or write to us today.
Our addresses and phone numbers throughout the world are listed
in the back of this booklet. Again, we look forward to hearing from you
and serving you, for you are now in contact with the Living Church of
God. May God grant you the understanding, the love and the courage to
act upon the precious Truth you have been given.

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REGIONAL OFFICES
UNITED STATES:
P.O. Box 3810
Charlotte, NC 28227-8010
www.TomorrowsWorld.org
Phone: (704) 844-1970
AUSTRALIA:
P.O. Box 300
Clarendon, SA 5157, Australia
Phone: (61) 8-8383-6288
CANADA:
P.O. Box 409
Mississauga, ON L5M 0P6
Phone: (905) 814-1094
NEW ZEALAND:
P.O. Box 2767
Shortland Street
Auckland 1140, New Zealand
Phone/Fax: (09) 268-8985
PHILIPPINES:
P.O. Box 492
Araneta Center Post Office
1135 Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Phone: (632) 455-3699
SOUTH AFRICA:
Private Bag X3016
Harrismith, FS 9880
Phone: (27) 58-622-1424
UNITED KINGDOM:
Box 111
88-90 Hatton Garden
London, EC1N 8PG
Phone/Fax: 44 (0) 844-800-9322

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The Living Church of God offers a variety of free publications

including a Bible Study Course, booklets and the
Tomorrows World magazine.
The following booklets may help you to better understand
Gods plans for you and the world.
To request your free literature,
please scan the QR code, refer to the next page
for the address nearest you,
or order online at www.TomorrowsWorld.org.

Is This the ONLY

Day of Salvation?

Which Day Is the

Christian Sabbath?

The United States

and Great Britain
in Prophecy